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Ch.46: Dream and Reality (4)
Lark's class is giving its swordsmanship exam. Suddenly, Lark leaves out a yell, when his wooden sword is thrown up in the air. Sia, who was fighting with him, looks at him startled, while Lark's hand is uncontrollably shaking. Laura, the swordsmanship teacher, lectures him for his technics and for letting go of his sword. After a long silence, she tells him to go inside. Lark nervously obeys. As he passes in front of Sia, the zombie says, "Ha...". Lark apologizes to him for failing, since Sia was coaching him during the semester. Angela opens the infirmary door and is worried when she sees Lark's dissapointed face. Lark decides not to let her know that he failed his exam. He responds that maybe he is like that because of the stress, and Angela is amused to hear that even him can get stressed. She goes back to her chair and claims that now that the boy has only the magic exam remaining he should be able to relax a bit. Lark instantly dismisses what she said, telling her that magic is very difficult for him, because he had to learn it by himself. Angela tries to raise his spirit by telling him that he just needs to pass the exam, without worrying about the mark. But, Lark feels even worse, since he finds it difficult to achieve even this, but says nothing. Angela then changes the subject and mentions Neal. She says that she talked to Navarus about him, as Lark asked her. She says that she has come to the conclusion that Neal is locked up. She claims that she told Navarus that it was too much and that he could release him. While she is saying all this, she remembers Navarus telling her that Neal is his servant and that she shouldn't be meddling with what he does with him. When she remembers him saying, " The punishment for your boy is included in it, so do not be concerned", she furiously hits her fist on the table. She then starts loudly complaining for Navarus claiming she is partly responsible for Neal's imprisonement and torture. Lark is surprised by her reaction and hesitantly calls her name. Angela sits back on her chair and tells him, "You should know too. That's what he does to the kid he brought in as an assistant to his son and Carne. He's very cold-blooded." Lark is confused to hear the word "assistant", as he believed that Neal belongs to the nobility and asks about it. Angela answers that his surname doesn't belong to any nobility and that his background is sketchy. She then turns her back to Lark, murmuring that she has some suspicions for the boy's background. Lark suddenly remembers Carne telling him that Setz is adopted. He comments how surprising it is since he looks so much to his father. He calls Angela's name, who is just smiling and not saying anything. She finally says, "N-nothing. This is how it's known. I forgot". Lark is taken aback by this and asks her to explain what she means, but Angela says that it's nothing. At that moment, the door opens and Setz comes in, while saying, "Excuse me". He then makes a small pause, and continues saying that he has come because he needs some medicine. Angela quickly gets up, delighted to see him and tells him to come in. But Lark isn't excited to see him at all. While Setz is just sitting there, he comments that they bump into each other often and Setz agrees. Angela asks Setz what he needs and he responds that he wants some more tranquilizers for Carne, who is still unstable. In the meantime, Lark is looking at Setz, while thinking that he is always cold when he sees him. He remembers Carne telling him that Setz became quiet and depressive in grade 3 or 4. He wonders what could have happened to him, to become like that. As he is thinking that, he says out loud, "Why did you.. change so much?".Setz turns and looks at him startled. Lark feels embarrased when he understands that he has talked out loud. Setz asks him what he is talking about. Angela anxiously tries to find something to say to change the subject, as she doesn't want this conversation to happen so early after she told Lark to speak to Setz. Lark, still embarrased, wonders whether he should take this chance to ask Setz why he changed. Setz is just standing, without saying anything. As he is thinking Lark's question, images of memories that include Bathory, Navarus, a woman laying somewhere with roses around her and young Neal, cross his mind.